# GULF SOUTH PIPELINE COMPANY, LP — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2015-10-01 **Citation:** PHMSA Report 20160027 **Type / status:** incident / historical **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** 2015-10-01 **Published:** 2016-03-28 Gas transmission and gathering incident in CHURCHPOINT, ACADIA County, LA. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 132285 NATURAL GAS released, $118,350 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings. PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious. ## Document text Gas transmission and gathering incident in CHURCHPOINT, ACADIA County, LA. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 132285 NATURAL GAS released, $118,350 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings. Report number: 20160027. Operator ID: 31728. Reported incident date: 10/1/2015 12:00. Location detail: 10.55 Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY Cause detail: LOCATING ISSUE Cause detail: FACILITY NOT MARKED DUE TO INCOMPLETE MARKS AT DAMAGE LOCATION Cause detail: CONTRACTOR, WHO WAS CLEANING DITCH BY EXCAVATION, GRABBED A ONE-INCH TAP VALVE WHICH PULLED THE THREADS CAUSING LEAK. 2-15-18 REVISE PER PHMSA'S INSTRUCTIONS. *APPROXIMATELY 10-1-2015, RANDY'S DIRT SERVICES (WICKOFF DRAINAGE DISTRICT/CITY OF) APPARENTLY DAMAGED A 1" BRANCH CONNECTION. *ON 3-2-16 AT 16:15, FARMER NOTIFIED GULF SOUTH OF POTENTIAL LEAK. *ON 3-2-16 AT 16:20, LEAK CONFIRMED AND CONFIRMED DISCOVERY THAT REPORTING CRITERIA WAS MET (SINCE SMALL GAS LEAK OF UNKNOWN DURATION, ASSUMED 3 MMCF GAS LOSS). DUE TO THE LIMITED NATURE OF GAS LOSS COMING THROUGH THE 1" BRANCH CONNECTION, PRESSURE WAS LOWERED BY 20% AND REPAIR WAS SCHEDULED. *ON 3-4-16 AT 13:00, PIPELINE WAS SHUT DOWN AND REPAIRED. 3-5-2018 REVISE IN RESPONSE TO PHMSA EMAIL. GULF SOUTH ASSUMES THAT THE DAMAGE TO THE PIPE OCCURRED AS PART OF EXCAVATION THAT OCCURRED ON 10-1-2015, BUT THAT IS ONLY AN ASSUMPTION. IN OUR OPINION, THE SUB-CAUSE IS BY PREVIOUS DAMAGE DUE TO EXCAVATION. BASED ON THE FACT THAT WE ASSUME POSSIBLE LEAKAGE OCCURRED AS EARLY AS 10-1-2015, GULF SOUTH ASSUMED THE GAS LOSS EXCEEDED 3 MMCF, THEREFORE, CREATING AN INCIDENT. THE DATA PROVIDED IS ATTEMPTING TO REFLECT THIS UNDERSTANDING OF THIS INCIDENT. A PIPELINE MARKER WAS LOCATED WITHIN APPROXIMATELY 10-FEET OF THE DAMAGED PIPE. 5-2-18 REVISE IN RESPONSE TO PHMSA EMAIL. GULF SOUTH'S ASSETS WERE CLEARLY MARKED WITH PIPELINE MARKERS BUT THE ONE CALL WAS IMPROPERLY CLEARED. THE ONE CALL TICKET WAS RECEIVED ON 10-1-2015 AND THE POSITIVE RESPONSE WAS DELIVERED ON 10-2-2015 SO THE BEST SPECULATION IS THAT THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED ON 10-2-2015. RESPONSES TO PART G HAVE BEEN REVISED TO PROPERLY REFLECT THIS. PART A HAS BEEN REVISED TO REFLECT THAT THE DATE AND TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS 10-2-2015 WHEN WE BELIEVE THE DAMAGE LIKELY OCCURRED. THE TIME IS 12:00 BECAUSE WE HAVE NO WAY TO DETERMINE THE CORRECT TIME SINCE WE DIDN'T KNOW UNTIL 3-2-2016 THAT DAMAGE HAD OCCURRED. PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious. PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE. PHMSA indexed costs: $416,730 reported total cost, $335,613.607 in 1984 dollars, $486,017.508 in current-year dollars. PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa-pipeline-incidents` - SHA-256: `c276b19adb9d311c52111e8d6aa2668bb2be7f8277b8dbeafc43dcab6c612ca7` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T03:30:32.010Z - Exported: 2026-08-24T20:48:05.287Z - Document slug: `phmsa-incident-a194bc5391230369ac1cd036` ### Source metadata ```json { "recordKind": "pipeline_incident", "datasetType": "gas_transmission_gathering", "datasetLabel": "Gas transmission and gathering", "datasetPeriod": "January 2010 to present", "report": { "number": "20160027", "supplementalNumber": "30269", "type": "SUPPLEMENTAL FINAL", "receivedDate": "2016-03-28", "receivedDateRaw": "3/28/2016" }, "operator": { "id": "31728", "name": "GULF SOUTH PIPELINE COMPANY, LP" }, "incident": { "date": "2015-10-01", "dateRaw": "10/1/2015 12:00" }, "location": { "city": "CHURCHPOINT", "county": "ACADIA", "state": "LA", "postalCode": "70525", "latitude": 30.366426, "longitude": -92.243107, "type": "PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY", "details": { "DESIGNATED_NAME": "10.55" }, "facilityName": "INDEX 205-5" }, "cause": { "category": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "details": { "CAUSE_DETAILS": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY", "ROOT_CAUSE_CATEGORY": "LOCATING ISSUE", "ROOT_CAUSE_TYPE": "FACILITY NOT MARKED DUE TO INCOMPLETE MARKS AT DAMAGE LOCATION", "NARRATIVE": "CONTRACTOR, WHO WAS CLEANING DITCH BY EXCAVATION, GRABBED A ONE-INCH TAP VALVE WHICH PULLED THE THREADS CAUSING LEAK. 2-15-18 REVISE PER PHMSA'S INSTRUCTIONS. *APPROXIMATELY 10-1-2015, RANDY'S DIRT SERVICES (WICKOFF DRAINAGE DISTRICT/CITY OF) APPARENTLY DAMAGED A 1\" BRANCH CONNECTION. *ON 3-2-16 AT 16:15, FARMER NOTIFIED GULF SOUTH OF POTENTIAL LEAK. *ON 3-2-16 AT 16:20, LEAK CONFIRMED AND CONFIRMED DISCOVERY THAT REPORTING CRITERIA WAS MET (SINCE SMALL GAS LEAK OF UNKNOWN DURATION, ASSUMED 3 MMCF GAS LOSS). DUE TO THE LIMITED NATURE OF GAS LOSS COMING THROUGH THE 1\" BRANCH CONNECTION, PRESSURE WAS LOWERED BY 20% AND REPAIR WAS SCHEDULED. *ON 3-4-16 AT 13:00, PIPELINE WAS SHUT DOWN AND REPAIRED. 3-5-2018 REVISE IN RESPONSE TO PHMSA EMAIL. GULF SOUTH ASSUMES THAT THE DAMAGE TO THE PIPE OCCURRED AS PART OF EXCAVATION THAT OCCURRED ON 10-1-2015, BUT THAT IS ONLY AN ASSUMPTION. IN OUR OPINION, THE SUB-CAUSE IS BY PREVIOUS DAMAGE DUE TO EXCAVATION. BASED ON THE FACT THAT WE ASSUME POSSIBLE LEAKAGE OCCURRED AS EARLY AS 10-1-2015, GULF SOUTH ASSUMED THE GAS LOSS EXCEEDED 3 MMCF, THEREFORE, CREATING AN INCIDENT. THE DATA PROVIDED IS ATTEMPTING TO REFLECT THIS UNDERSTANDING OF THIS INCIDENT. A PIPELINE MARKER WAS LOCATED WITHIN APPROXIMATELY 10-FEET OF THE DAMAGED PIPE. 5-2-18 REVISE IN RESPONSE TO PHMSA EMAIL. GULF SOUTH'S ASSETS WERE CLEARLY MARKED WITH PIPELINE MARKERS BUT THE ONE CALL WAS IMPROPERLY CLEARED. THE ONE CALL TICKET WAS RECEIVED ON 10-1-2015 AND THE POSITIVE RESPONSE WAS DELIVERED ON 10-2-2015 SO THE BEST SPECULATION IS THAT THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED ON 10-2-2015. RESPONSES TO PART G HAVE BEEN REVISED TO PROPERLY REFLECT THIS. PART A HAS BEEN REVISED TO REFLECT THAT THE DATE AND TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS 10-2-2015 WHEN WE BELIEVE THE DAMAGE LIKELY OCCURRED. THE TIME IS 12:00 BECAUSE WE HAVE NO WAY TO DETERMINE THE CORRECT TIME SINCE WE DIDN'T KNOW UNTIL 3-2-2016 THAT DAMAGE HAD OCCURRED." } }, "consequences": { "fatalities": 0, "injuries": 0, "commodity": "NATURAL GAS", "release": "132285", "propertyDamage": 118350, "estimatedOperatorCost": 0, "estimatedEmergencyCost": 1000, "estimatedEnvironmentalCost": null, "ignition": "NO", "explosion": "NO", "evacuated": 0, "raw": { "FATAL": "0", "INJURE": "0", "UNINTENTIONAL_RELEASE": "132285", "EST_COST_PROP_DAMAGE": "118350", "PRPTY": "416730" } }, "provenance": { "viewId": "27nc-rsge", "viewUrl": "https://data.transportation.gov/api/views/27nc-rsge", "assetId": "2b05c2d8-d14a-4c56-ac1c-7d23a4bc31c8", "archiveFilename": "Gas Transmission & Gathering Incident Data - January 2010 to present.zip", "archiveSha256": "fe0b136ca4b00ac987a8bc2e195098accf910d97512c5fc3b59e62d9da5f674e", "memberPath": "incident_gas_transmission_gathering_jan2010_present.txt", "memberSha256": "b435f2a25718cf54c54e00294e6788c4f9c6860e02fb86355e75d294c243c4dd", "rowNumber": 1271, "rowSha256": "3fc29538b7f1630756ebbfad74295bfd875741789e8fbb99e187a1ae6c3b0ddf" }, "caveat": "Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.", "operatorReported": true, "finalAgencyFinding": false, "flaggedAnalysis": { "dataAsOf": "2026-07-31", "flags": { "fireFirst": null, "significant": true, "serious": false }, "standardizedCause": { "sevenCategory": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "sevenSubcategory": "THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "eightCategory": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "eightSubcategory": "THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE" }, "costs": { "reported": 416730, "in1984Dollars": 335613.60697441787, "currentYearDollars": 486017.5082178629 }, "caveat": "PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.", "provenance": { "sourceUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/data_statistics/pipeline/PHMSA_Pipeline_Safety_Flagged_Incidents.zip", "landingPageUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-flagged-files", "catalogUrl": "https://data.transportation.gov/Pipelines-and-Hazmat/Pipeline-Incident-Flagged-Files/qdme-9bbm", "retrievalMode": "official_live", "archivedAt": null, "archiveSha256": "317e6a3e16d60b9b677efe391dc40258b5dd7ead83fb8bea74cb553cedfbbdec", "workbook": "gtggungs2010toPresent.xlsx", "sheet": "gtggungs2010toPresent", "rowNumber": 778, "rowSha256": "b007fa0137558b006faf78e3e3058cfb864170203107c4712c3e4e220fd8e549" } }, "jurisdiction": "US", "operatorName": "GULF SOUTH PIPELINE COMPANY, LP" } ```